Finding Rakuzan's Core
by thecrazyones
Summary: After coaching Seirin through the Interhigh in her first year, Riko was headhunted by Rakuzan scouts into transferring there. At Rakuzan, she finds a place where she can make a difference. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Note: So, I was just thinking that Rakuzan's coach seemed inconsequential. And then I wondered what would happen if Riko fell into the mix. The idea just arrested me and couldn't leave me alone. And so...voila.

Disclaimer**: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

* * *

"So then, Masamune Date became an incredibly fearsome warrior, despite his lack of sight in his right eye, and his helmet became legendary throughout Yamagata, maybe even the whole of Japan!"

Hyuuga was saying enthusiastically as he walked Riko home. They had just finished visiting Kiyoshi at the hospital, and a warm orange light was casting down on them as the sun set, and they drew nearer to her house. Despite what she knew of Kiyoshi's condition, Riko was feeling optimistic about Seirin's chances in the next Interhigh.

It was something about the way Hyuuga said it. The promise. Full of certainty and resolve. That was what she had always admired about him. That was what made him such a good captain.

"Yes, yes, fascinating, Hyuuga-kun," Riko replied sarcastically. "So, did he kill even more bad guys after getting his fancy helmet?"

Oblivious to her sarcasm, Hyuuga happily continued, "Yes, he did! He slaughtered a whole bunch of them at a river..." He trailed off as he suddenly took notice of a huge black sedan in front of her house, where they were both just a few metres away.

"Hyuuga-kun?" Riko said, and then she noticed the sedan too. Two men in black suits were talking to her father.

As Riko and Hyuuga walked towards the group, the men looked up to greet her. One of them smiled at her. It was a courteous upturn of his lips, that belied no emotion. Riko didn't like it.

"Ah, Riko-san, is it alright if we have a word with you?"

* * *

The men just didn't stop talking.

Riko was sitting opposite the two men, and next to her was Hyuuga. Her father was sitting a little ways behind both of them. Despite his loud objections, Riko had insisted that Hyuuga stayed to hear the conversation too, even if it was important. She trusted her gut feeling, which somehow warned her that she needed Hyuuga with her for this.

They were saying such fake, professional-sounding things. "We would be honoured...", "Your athletic sense is unparalleled...", "As expected of Aida Kagetora's daughter..." All such insincere phrases designed to win her over. Riko felt herself frown more as the men droned on. She felt like grabbing Hyuuga's hand and gripping it for comfort.

"To conclude, we were just incredibly impressed with your coaching during the Interhigh. And so, we would be truly honoured if you could please consider transferring to Rakuzan on our scholarship. We understand that you are currently a basketball coach, and Rakuzan already has the esteemed Shirogane Eiji-san, of course," here, Riko noticed her father flinch at the mention of his old teammate, out of the corner of her eye, "but we truly believe that your talents and assets will be of great use to our great variety of other sports."

Riko sighed. She had already made her decision the moment the word 'Rakuzan' left their lips, and felt irritated that she had had to sit through that whole blather when she was already so steadfast in her decision. She took a breath to state a blunt refusal, when Hyuuga suddenly cut across her.

"She will consider this offer and revert tomorrow latest."

Riko blinked hard in her shock. She turned towards Hyuuga, who was looking at the men with unwavering determination in his eyes, and a hard set to his jaw, the same look she always saw him with on the basketball court.

"Hyuuga-kun!" Riko angrily exclaimed. But before she could continue, her father had stood up and started gesturing to the men to leave.

"We will let you know her decision tomorrow," he said as he politely ushered them out. Riko noticed that he was avoiding her eyes as she threw him a look of betrayal.

As the men and her father left, Riko immediately turned on Hyuuga.

"What, just what was that, Hyuuga-kun!" Her hands fisted in anger. "There's no way I'm transferring to Rakuzan! I'm at Seirin! I'm Seirin's coach!"

Hyuuga, like her father, was avoiding her eyes. "Riko, this is an opportunity you can't refuse. It's Rakuzan. As a coach, there's no better place to be."

Riko's eyes widened. She grabbed Hyuuga's shirt to force him to look at her. "Hyuuga-kun. That's ridiculous. I'm staying at Seirin. To help fulfil your promise to Teppei. All of us together." Of course she was going to stay. She was going to be with Mitobe, Koganei, Tsuchida, Izuki, Kiyoshi. And...Hyuuga.

But when he finally turned to look at her, Riko released his shirt slowly. She felt like she was fighting a losing battle.

Because while his eyes were filled with regret and a deep sadness, they also revealed an unflinching resoluteness.

"He's right."

Riko turned to see her father leaning at the doorway. For once, he was agreeing with Hyuuga. She wished it wasn't for this heartbreaking thing.

"I'm proud of you for wanting to keep your promise to your friends, but...Riko." Her father took a deep breath. "This is also about your future. You owe it to your friends to take this opportunity."

At his words, Riko immediately felt a wave of uncertainty, and conflict arose within her. He was right. She knew it, deep within her heart. What he was saying made so much sense. Within her, she felt a burning desire to go to Rakuzan, to experience Rakuzan. It was an opportunity only a fool would refuse.

But she belonged in Seirin. Going to Rakuzan would feel like a betrayal. To the promise she held towards Kiyoshi, to all the training plans she had already constructed for next year's Interhigh.

And the fact that Hyuuga was encouraging her to go made the conflict even worse. Because she knew how difficult it must be for him. Just as difficult it was for her to choose to go.

She wanted to go. So much. But she also didn't want to go.

Hyuuga put a hand on her shoulder. Riko felt heartbroken, because his touch had always represented comfort and strength to her. Now though, it felt foreign, and cold.

"You should take the offer, Riko. Everyone at Seirin would want you to."

Riko swallowed, her fingers twitching on her lap. Itching to go to his hand on her shoulder.

She would go. It would satisfy that desire she held deep within her. But even more than that, she would go for her friends, who would never have this opportunity dangling in front of her now.

Riko felt like she was falling into a deep, dark pit, with no end in sight.

* * *

When Riko arrived at the Kyoto station a day before the school term started, she was bombarded with confusion. She had only been to Kyoto once before on a school trip, and she had been chaperoned that whole time. But this was okay...Riko sighed. Confusion was the only emotion she had been feeling constantly nowadays.

She shouldered her bags and searched for an information counter. It would be much easier just to ask a station staff for directions, rather than stumbling around on her own.

It took nearly an hour for the bus to even arrive at the stop where Rakuzan High was at. And when she arrived at the bus stop, all she could see was a complex of large buildings and a wide expanse of greenery. Nothing remotely like a school in sight.

Sighing again, and frowning in irritation, Riko decided to just walk somewhere between the complex of buildings and the fields. Hopefully she would bump into someone who could lead her in the right direction. And so, quashing thoughts about Hyuuga and his immaculate sense of direction, she steadfastly walked towards the impossibly large buildings.

After nearly an hour of walking around, Riko was ready to scream in frustration. There was no one in sight. How could there be no one? There were so many large buildings here! What was filled in them, cockroaches? Stomping the ground in frustration, she threw her heavy bags on the ground, and scrambled to search for one of the Rakuzan official documents in her bag. Maybe there was a number she could call. But before she went into full-on cursing mode, she was suddenly called by someone.

"Hey~!"

Looking up in surprise, she saw two tall boys. One of them had longish black hair while the other had orange hair. The shorter, orange-haired boy appeared to be grumbling at the taller boy, his hands shoved sulkily in his pockets.

Riko looked at them with a smile. "Hello! I'm so glad to see you!" She exhaled with relief. "I've just been so lost here!"

The taller boy chuckled good-humouredly. "Yes, we know~...We saw you walking around from the window over there." He gestured at one of the large buildings, which looked just as swanky as the others (Riko thought irritatedly).

"Yeah. Reo-nee just insisted that we come help you. Even though we were in the midst of a video game and I was totally kicking his ass," the orange-haired boy grumbled. Riko felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation. What was with this boy?

"Now, now, Kotarou-chan, we have to be nice to girls~," the boy called Reo-nee said good-naturedly. He turned to smile at Riko. "So, can we help you with anything?"

Riko decided to talk to this boy, who seemed more matured than the orange-haired brat. "Yes please, thank you very much! I'm looking for Rakuzan High?"

At her question, the boy called Kotarou suddenly dissolved into laughter, and even started to hold his stomach in his mirth. Riko gritted her teeth irritatedly, feeling her fingers tighten on her bag strap. Just what was so funny about what she said?

The taller boy looked slightly annoyed, and whacked the other boy lightly on the back of his head. Ignoring the other boy's whined "ow!", he smiled at Riko, and said, "You're actually in Rakuzan now! This whole place is Rakuzan." He ended the sentence with a wink.

At these words, Riko gaped at him for a full minute. "Th-this whole place? All that large fields...and, and, these impossibly large buildings, which are just...there are so many..." she stammered with wide eyes. Just how extravagantly wealthy was this school? Seirin didn't even have its own football field.

And then, she blinked, and quickly straightened up her expression. She really didn't want to be impressed with Rakuzan. Seirin was just better! "Uh...it's okay, I guess..." she trailed off, with a nonchalant shrug.

The black-haired boy laughed lightly. "So I suppose you're a new student here?" He glanced at her bags and moved forwards to help her pick some up. "From the look of your bags, I guess you stay at the dorms. Do you want us to show you where the female ones are? We're both on basketball scholarship so we stay at dorms too. That's why we're here a day early."

Basketball scholarship, huh? As Riko handed off her bags to the black-haired boy gratefully, she thought that these boys probably dominated the competition during that heart-breaking summer.

Outwardly, she smiled and said, "Thank you, I would really appreciate that. Yeah, I'm a scholarship student too." She watched as the black-haired boy shoved a few of her bags into the other boy's arms. He scowled as he took them. "I just transferred this year. So I'm actually a second-year student."

"Second year?" Reo-nee looked too happy for that mundane statement. "We're second years too! I'm Mibuchi Reo, and this guy here's Hayama Kotarou-chan." He ruffled Hayama's hair, smiling excitedly all the while.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Riko," Riko replied curtly.

"Riko-chan? That's such a cute name!" Mibuchi gushed excitedly.

Hayama, meanwhile, was bad-temperedly shouldering her bags, as he said, "You said you're a scholarship student?" He snorted a little. "What kinda sport do you play?" He scrutinised her with narrowed eyes, as he continued, "You don't seem like an athlete at all. You look so…"

But before he could continue, Riko cut him off before she was thrown out of Rakuzan High for assault before she even attended her first class.

"I'm not here on an athletic scholarship, no." She turned away from him to stalk ahead of them first. "I'm here to coach."

* * *

By the time they reached the female dormitory building, she was glad to be rid of the boys. Mibuchi was okay, he was really nice and she was sure she could get along well with him. Hayama, on the other hand…she felt like her bag handle was about to snap from how hard she was gripping it in suppressed irritation.

He had kept commenting and asking her questions non-stop throughout their journey to the dorms. No, she still didn't know what sport she was going to coach. No, she wasn't new at coaching. Yes, she can coach. Yes, she can really coach. It drove her madder than Koganei's ridiculous comments ever did.

When she got out of the warm, comforting shower she took in order to erase Hayama from her mind (the shower was irritatingly perfect, as Rakuzan's facilities always were, apparently), she was greeted with a ring on her mobile phone.

Picking it up, she looked at the caller. It was Hyuuga.

"Hey, Riko," his voice sounded in her ear. It sounded slightly strained.

She sighed. "Hi, Hyuuga-kun." She sat down on her bed, still drying her hair with a towel. "What's up?"

She heard him clear his throat at his end. "Um…I just wanted to see how you were, and…uh, whether you're okay at Rakuzan."

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied curtly. She lay down on her bed, despite her wet hair. "How's everything?" _How's Teppei. How are you._

"Good." She heard him clear his throat again. "I…I saw Kiyoshi at the hospital today." Here, Riko smiled though her heart ached. Trust Hyuuga to know what she wanted to hear most. "He's still not cleared for school unfortunately. He'll probably miss the first term." _He'll probably miss the upcoming Interhigh_. Riko heard his unspoken statement.

"Oh. Well, as long as he gets better. That's the priority." Riko turned to lie on her side, her wet hair clumping over her ear.

She heard him breathe for a while on the line. "…yeah," he said. She closed her eyes, hearing the sounds of him breathing.

"Riko?"

Her eyes flew open. "Yeah?" she said, her voice cracking slightly.

"I…uh…" she heard him release a few loud breaths. "I'll call you again soon."

"Yeah." _I miss you too._

The line went dead.

* * *

Riko had allowed herself a short moment of vulnerability that night, just burying her face in her arms and knees for several seconds.

Then, she had raised her head, and frowned in determination. She was going to be just fine. It was Rakuzan, and she was Riko. Rakuzan was no match for her.

And so it was that the next morning, she went to class feeling strong-willed and probably a little too angry, because she noticed a few of her new classmates wince as they looked at her face. What, were Rakuzan people such wimps?

She slammed her bag on her desk, pulled out her chair with a screech, and flung herself into it with perhaps a little too much force. She grabbed her books out of her bag and flung them on her desk. Then, she pulled out her pencil case, and lined up her pencils, a ruler, and an eraser in a perfect straight configuration. She was going to tackle the day as she always did, determined and ready to battle the world.

"The hell? It's you?"

Riko's eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice behind her. Oh no. It couldn't be. She turned around quickly to see, of all the annoying people, Hayama, the orange-haired brat behind her.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed a little too angrily at him.

He frowned at her tone. "What do you mean? This is my class too." He leaned back against his chair languidly. "I'll try to get along with you as a classmate then, Coach Riko."

The way he said it made her teeth grind in irritation. It was completely laden with sarcasm and scepticism. Then, as he stretched out his legs, he kicked her chair.

Riko felt something snap inside her. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she turned completely in her chair, and said, "Look, can you please just…"

"Haah…?" Hayama said irritatingly, as he suddenly leaned in front to get up in her face instead.

Riko sighed. There was no way of communicating with this brat. She stood up to sweep her things into her bag, saying as she did so, "Never mind, Hayama-kun, I'll just sit somewhere else instead-"

But before she could finish her sentence, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the classroom door facing the hallway.

"Look, look!" He said excitedly as Riko felt herself being pulled unceremoniously to lean out of the door. He was pressing against her side uncomfortably as he shouted against her ear, "Check out this guy!"

Trying to push him away irritatedly, she turned to see a red-haired boy striding down the hallway. He was suddenly stopped by some girls, who were blushing as they spoke to him. Riko felt a chill rush over her as she saw the way he replied them, all polished, perfect and immaculate. So charismatic. So articulate. She wasn't sure if she liked it.

"That's Akashi Seijuurou." Hayama was breathing in her ear. "He was the captain of the Generation of Miracles." Riko turned to look at Hayama's face, so close to her own. His eyes were shining with excitement and elation. "This is the guy I'm so looking forward to playing basketball with."

As Riko turned away from Hayama to look at Akashi, he suddenly looked up as well as he politely excused himself from the girls. They locked eyes with one another.

In that brief moment, Riko felt an insurmountable and uncompromising pressure against her, just from his one look. And against that pressure, Riko felt the one thing she prized herself with, her immovable, defiant pride, swell within her to counter it. She heard herself give a sharp intake of breath, unconsciously.

It only lasted a second. Akashi had looked away from her to continue his way towards the first years' corridor.

But in that one second, Riko just knew, that whether or not there was already a coach, it was basketball that she had to throw herself into, regardless of what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Strangely enough, when Riko had locked eyes with Akashi, she had been reminded of the time she had said farewell to the Seirin basketball team a few days before her departure to Kyoto. It was paradoxical, because the pressure she felt so strongly merely by looking into his eyes was the complete opposite of all the feelings the Seirin team gave her.

Warmth. Security. Strength. Support.

Unwavering dedication.

Koganei had been blubbering so much she couldn't understand what he was saying. All she knew was that he was shoving some gifts into her hand, mumbling about how she shouldn't forget them in Tokyo. But when she tried to clarify what he was saying, Mitobe had put a strong hand on her shoulder.

And as she looked into his eyes, it was the first time Mitobe had ever translated something for Koganei, rather than the other way round. Because she could understand exactly what he was conveying for both of them, merely through his kind eyes.

Tsuchida had given her a steady hug, and as they drew apart, she pretended not to notice him wiping his eyes. Izuki, meanwhile, had punned, of course, "Here are some _goods_ from me, to keep you well and _good_," as he passed her one of his joke books.

She had tried to force a laugh this time, but he merely smiled at her so understandingly, that she stopped. And she accepted his joke book with genuine appreciation.

Kiyoshi had insisted that the hospital cleared him to visit her house at least for that day. And as he enveloped her small frame with a hug, while trying to balance on his crutches, he said only two words which were all she needed from him, when he had already given her so much.

_Thank you._

Hyuuga hadn't said anything, or done anything throughout her farewells with everyone. He had merely stood by.

And when it came time for everyone to leave, he delayed and stood by the entrance until everyone had already gone a little ways away from her front door. Then, he looked her directly in the eye.

"I'll…call you."

And they both just looked at each other for a moment.

Then, he turned and left without a backward glance. But this was fine with Riko, because the look in his eye had been enough for her.

It was the unflinching resoluteness and strength that she admired so much in him. And that was all she needed as a farewell from him.

It was heart-breaking the way all of them had heartily congratulated and encouraged her to transfer to Rakuzan when she still professed doubt at the decision. But it was also entirely expected of them, to think of her above their needs.

So maybe it wasn't so strange after all that she was reminded of Seirin as she looked into Akashi's eyes for that brief second. Maybe it was because of the paradox, that she felt such a strong need to coach him, Akashi Seijuurou, out of anyone she had ever met in her life.

* * *

To Riko's great consternation, the delay caused by her and Hayama rushing to take a look at Akashi meant that the recess before homeroom period was over quickly, and Riko was now stuck in front of Hayama for the whole year. To her no great surprise, the boy was both universally popular in the class, and universally disliked, if that dichotomy was even possible. It seemed as though while his antics amused everyone greatly, they also annoyed everyone.

But on the plus side, she found out that Shirogane Eiji, the basketball coach, was also going to be her homeroom teacher. Hayama had complained loudly to her, kicking her chair all the while, that he was just "never going to get away from that guy, for both class and basketball practice", but she was personally quite satisfied that she was going to have all the time she needed to interact with him and try to convince him to let her coach the basketball team somehow.

However, when she had recited her name in front of the class, Shirogane-sensei had jerked his head up from the register, a big change from his previous disinterested manner with the rest of the class.

"_Aida_ Riko?"

Riko had nodded, and done her best to project a less defiant attitude. After they exchanged a look, during which Riko tried to ascertain the emotion behind his eyes, he returned to his disinterested manner and waved for Hayama to continue introductions.

Riko sat down in her desk for the rest of the day, trying to ignore Hayama's constant need to talk to her, and disturb her, while she thought hard of ways to convince Shirogane-sensei to let her coach.

As Riko annoyedly but absently swatted away Hayama's hand, which was trying to pull her hair, she grimly set her jaw in determination. She was going to do all the research she could on Shirogane-sensei, and find out as much as she could.

* * *

After more than a week of research and pouring over ancient basketball magazines in the Rakuzan archives, Riko was ready to scream in frustration. While she had managed to glean that Shirogane-sensei was supposedly one of the best basketball captains the Japan national team ever had, she also failed completely to gain any sense of his character. He remained as elusive as ever, his taciturn expression glaring at her from all the old pictures, in contrast to the various goofy expressions of her father.

While she was wasting so much time with all this pointless research, the basketball practice season had already started, and Riko felt a sense of urgency and panic that she was missing so many hours.

And so, it was with great regret that she lowered her pride and decided to ask Hayama instead during one of their lunch breaks.

"Haah…? Why do you wanna know what Shirogane is like during practice?" Hayama said, squinting at her and putting his face too close to hers.

Trying hard not to lean away out of irritation, Riko forced a smile on her face, and said, "I'm just curious, Hayama-kun."

At her rather eerie-looking smile, Hayama leaned back quickly, and then scratched his head, looking thoughtful. "Ehh, I don't really notice him much. Especially now with Akashi there during practice." Hayama smiled suddenly. Riko noticed that it wasn't particularly out of endearment. "That guy's really…one of a kind."

Biting back her immediate instinct to ask him what _Akashi_ was like, she decided to focus on the matter at hand first. "So, you can't tell me at all, what Shirogane-sensei is like?"

Hayama just shrugged nonchalantly, and then suddenly perked up. "Hey, why don't we go ask some of the other basketball players?"

Riko blinked. "What?"

But before she could say anything else, he had grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the classroom. Riko felt annoyance masked in her surprise. It seemed as though all she'd been doing at Rakuzan so far was being dragged around by Hayama.

He brought her to a classroom a few rows down theirs, and marched in while yelling out, "Reo-nee! Eikichi! We got some questions for you guys!". Unsurprisingly, the whole class turned to look at the orange-haired _idiot_ dragging Riko in like a rag doll. As they stopped in front of two boys sitting together eating lunch, Riko quickly shook off Hayama, and turned to smile politely at them.

Mibuchi was smiling at her with upturned eyes and waving merrily, while the other boy, Eikichi, was…whoah. He was _eating_. Not just eating in the normal sense, but completely devouring more food than Riko had ever seen any one individual consume. He glanced up at her, and then said, with his mouth full, "Hey."

Mibuchi immediately snapped in disgust, "Don't talk with your mouth full, Ei-chan!" And then, he turned to smile at Riko. "Sorry about him, Riko-chan. This guy's Nebuya Eikichi. He's also on the basketball team with Kotarou-chan and I. And…he just loves food. A lot." Mibuchi winced as Nebuya gave him a food-covered grin. Swallowing in disgust, he turned back to Riko and asked, "How's everything, Riko-chan?"

"Fine," said Riko distractedly as she continued watching Nebuya wolf down pieces of sushi, soba, tempura…was that a piece of radish? Hayama had made a game of trying to swipe food from under Nebuya's arm. Chuckling merrily, he said to Mibuchi, "Riko wants to know about Shirogane."

"Shirogane-sensei?" Mibuchi put a finger to his chin as he thought. "Hm…he's quite nice~…I think he listens to students, which is quite lovely of him…"

Nebuya had nodded vigorously at that, slapping Hayama's sneaky hand, as he raised a piece of mushroom tempura to gesture while saying, "_Especially_ Akashi."

At the mention of Akashi once more, Riko frowned. Just how much of an impact did this guy make on the team already? Even as she asked people about Shirogane-sensei, they seemed more inclined to talk about Akashi instead. It was quite puzzling.

But, this new piece of information on Shirogane was useful. She could use that. If he listened to students, perhaps he would hear her out.

* * *

"No."

Riko bristled as she frowned at Shirogane-sensei, who was rubbing the board. It was the end of the school day, and Riko had approached Shirogane-sensei to ask him about letting her assist him with coaching the basketball team. She had prepared some logical arguments, but before she could even expound on them, he had cut her off with that dreaded syllable.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, then sighed, "Riko-san, there are so many other sports just as prestigious as basketball at Rakuzan. I feel it would be better for you to try coaching the others, for your own development." He scrutinized her carefully. "Don't be burdened by your failure in the last Interhigh."

Riko felt a rage rise within her. How dare he bring up Seirin like it was shameful. "But, sensei-"

"My decision is final, Riko-san."

Riko felt her teeth grind.

* * *

Riko took a few deep breaths while holding her mobile phone.

She had just got out of the wonderful Rakuzan dormitory shower, and had perhaps scrubbed her hair too hard out of frustration. But the warm water had done her some good, because she now had an idea of what to do.

She was just completely _dreading_ taking action on it.

Closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth, and thought about Seirin. And Akashi.

At these thoughts, she opened her eyes with renewed vigour and punched the call button.

At only a single ring, her father picked up.

"Riikoo…! You're finally calling me! You haven't been picking up my calls all week even though I've called you so many times! Why…!"

She bad-temperedly held the phone about a foot away from her ear, waiting for her father's shrieks to die down. When after two full minutes and she could still hear every word even when the phone was so far away from her, she growled into the phone, "Dad."

His wails stopped immediately.

Frowning, Riko took a few more deep steadying breaths. Patience, Riko. She lay down on her bed, and then said, "I'm thinking of being an assistant coach to the Rakuzan basketball team. But…the current coach is making things so difficult."

She kneaded her forehead. "Since he used to be your old teammate…I was wondering if you could tell me what would be the best way to approach this?"

For a few seconds, she heard her father breathe on the line. And then, in a completely calm tone, she heard him say, "…Basketball team, huh? Riko…" She heard him swallow slightly. "Are you sure that you still want to coach for basketball?"

Riko felt a lump on her throat. And then, she said with gritted teeth, "Yes, Dad. It has to be basketball. I…I owe it to my friends at Seirin to coach basketball here, even if it's at Rakuzan."

"But Riko…"

"Rakuzan's basketball team needs me," Riko said in a rush, cutting off her father. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily. "I can't explain it completely…because I don't understand it myself. There was someone…and then, the coach himself…and, everything about Rakuzan's so confusing, but…" Riko heard her father breathing on the line for a while. She heard _herself_ breathe for a while.

She swallowed. "I just feel this really intense need to coach Rakuzan...for Seirin's sake."

It felt like forever to Riko, hearing her father breathe on the line while she waited for his response. She glanced out the window. Rakuzan's buildings were illuminated with yellow and white fluorescent lights. Such a pretty picture.

"Okay, Riko. I trust you."

At these words, Riko felt her breath whoosh out of her as she smiled. Dad was Dad after all. She felt a weight leaving her.

"Ehh…this might sound kinda random, but…" Riko heard her father scratching his head at his end as she waited for him to continue. "Eiji really likes compliments."

Riko blinked at her father's statement.

"What?"

* * *

"I _still_ don't understand why you've been going on about Shirogane these past few weeks," Hayama was saying as he kept up easily with Riko striding down the corridor to Shirogane-sensei's office.

She had been trying unsuccessfully to shake him off all this while, but he had latched onto her the moment school ended. Riko ground her teeth in frustration. She needed to be alone with Shirogane-sensei for this.

"You don't have to understand because it's _none of your business_," Riko hissed back at Hayama.

As she and Hayama walked towards the office, they passed by Mibuchi and Nebuya, who had just come out of their classroom.

"Aw, Riko-chan~, is Kotarou-chan bothering you again?" Mibuchi said cheerfully, as he also kept up with Riko's strides, falling leisurely by her side.

"Yeah, if you want, we'll get rid of the brat for you," Nebuya chuckled as he fell beside Hayama.

"She's the one not telling me something important!" protested Hayama.

All of them arrived at the office. Riko stood in front of Shirogane-sensei's door, and then hissed at all of them, "Everyone, stay away. I need to talk to him in private." And without waiting for a response, she opened the door, and walked up to Shirogane-sensei, who was merely looking at some documents at his desk.

"Shirogane-sensei!"

He looked up at her call, and then frowned as he took note of her resolute stance. Kneading his forehead, he said, "Riko-san, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, sensei!" said Riko. She bit her lip. She had to sound convincing for this.

"I…I want to be assistant coach to the basketball team!" She heard a splutter come from outside the door. "And I won't take no for an answer! Because…" She took a deep breath. "I really, really want to learn from you! You're the best!"

Shirogane-sensei just stared at her, without moving a single muscle.

Riko chewed her lip.

A few beats of silence passed. He still didn't respond.

"U-uh…you're definitely better than my father at coaching!" Riko tried to continue. "So…" She fisted her hands. "Instead of being Aida Kagetora's daughter, I want to be Shirogane Eiji's apprentice!"

This time, she definitely heard a spluttered exclamation, "A-Aida Kagetora? _The_ Aida Kagetora?", which definitely came from Hayama. She inwardly rolled her eyes. Figures that he wouldn't have realized the connection, even if she did recite her name in front of the whole class.

Shirogane-sensei had finally stirred from her rather surprising proclamations. He frowned at her, as he sighed, "I'm sorry, Riko-san, but as flattered as I am about these compliments, I still think that you would be better off-"

"Shirogane-sensei."

Before Riko's heart could sink too much, she heard a voice, calm and certain, come from behind her. She turned around to see Akashi, flanked by Mibuchi, Nebuya and Hayama, all of whom were also staring at him. Hayama's and Nebuya's mouths were slightly open.

Shirogane-sensei had immediately turned to look at Akashi. "Yes, Akashi-kun?"

Akashi strode into the office to stand next to her. She felt a pressure emanating from him, the same pressure she felt when they had locked eyes.

"I think having Aida Riko-san as assistant coach could be advantageous for the team." Akashi continued. "She would bring a certain perspective and expertise that may elevate the team to even greater heights." He looked at her serenely, a polished smile on his face. "She _is_ Aida Kagetora's daughter."

"Mm…" Shirogane-sensei leaned back in his chair in thought. Riko held her breath, and felt as though Mibuchi, Nebuya and Hayama were doing the same.

"Alright, Akashi-kun. If you believe that this would be a good thing." He looked at Riko. "Riko-san, I expect you to attend the practice sessions just like everyone else."

Then he turned back to his documents, and said with a touch of irritation, "Now everyone out of my office."

* * *

Riko wasn't sure if she liked that out of everyone, _Akashi_ was the one who ended up pulling through for her. She had gone to Hayama, Mibuchi, Nebuya and even her own father, but _he_ was the one who ended up getting her what she wanted.

No, she didn't like it one bit.

Looking at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked down the corridor together, Mibuchi, Hayama and Nebuya behind them, she said, "Hey. Thanks for standing up for me back there."

He looked at her, and then said, calmly and serenely, belying no emotion, "I was only providing a recommendation that made logical sense." He turned back to look ahead. "Victory is always certain for us. Having you as assistant coach would at least be…interesting."

Then he walked ahead of her, saying as he did so, "You owe me for this, Aida Riko."

Riko stopped short, Hayama slamming into her. "_What_." She hissed.

But before she could say anything else, as Akashi turned around to look at her, Hayama had suddenly tackled her, and yelled out, "_What_ was that bird, right, Riko?" He turned towards Nebuya, and said frantically, "_Right_, Eikichi?"

As Nebuya nodded vigorously in agreement, Mibuchi said to Akashi nervously, "Don't you have to get to a meeting, Sei-chan?"

Akashi looked at Riko carefully, and then nodded at Mibuchi. Without another word, he turned and left them.

As the boys breathed sighs of relief, Hayama starting to say something to her, Riko never heard him. Because she was still staring after Akashi's back with narrowed eyes.

This brat was going to be difficult to work with.


	3. Chapter 3

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me _Aida Kagetora_ is your father," whined Hayama.

He was sitting cross-legged on Riko's desk, taking up nearly the whole expanse of the surface, to her great irritation. Which was his intention entirely, of course. He had moved there after she ignored him even as he kicked her chair and repeatedly called out her name. Despite his hard-to-miss presence right in front of her, Riko steadfastly still tried to ignore him. She had placed a book on the little space she had left on the desk, leaning it against Hayama's crossed legs, where it did battle with Hayama for space.

"No wonder you wanted to coach us so badly," Hayama continued, nudging her book with one of his legs, childish mischievousness shining in his eyes.

Riko sighed. "For the hundredth time, Hayama-kun, it was just your own fault for not realising it when I announced it to the class." She glared up at him as he nudged the book, and held onto it firmly. "Why does that matter, anyway? I want to coach because I love it and I'm good at it, not because of my father."

Hayama snorted at her words. "Are you even _sure_ you're good at i-"

Riko punched him in the chest right in front of her to cut him off. He wheezed and swore at her, rubbing the spot where she hit him while glaring at her.

"_Anyway_," Hayama said, while still glaring at her. "Rakuzan's gonna be different from anything you've ever experienced." A cocky smirk arose on his face. "We're the _best_. And we practise like we are too."

Riko didn't say anything in response, focusing on her book.

Hayama frowned, and then reached out a hand to pull her hair. Riko grabbed it without looking up from her book. Growling, Hayama used his superior strength to overturn her hand on his, so that he was grabbing it instead of the other way round. Riko tried to pull her hand out of his, but he held onto it strongly, laughing gleefully all the while. She used her other hand to grab the wrist of his hand holding her, but he was shouting out something like "no one can beat me!" and she was trying hard to pull her hand free-

"Riikoo-chaan~!"

Hayama stopped his shouting, and Riko froze from her mini-tussle with his hand, as they both looked up to see Mibuchi and Nebuya fluttering towards them. Well, Mibuchi looked like he was fluttering, Nebuya was just striding normally. Both of them had huge grins, especially Mibuchi.

"Hi," said Riko curtly, rubbing her hands as Hayama released her from his captive grip. She threw him a glare, but he just whistled, mischievous glee gleaming in his eyes.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Hayama, leaning languidly on his hands that were gripping the edges of Riko's desk.

"We're here to see Riko-chan, of course," Mibuchi said happily. Nebuya nodded.

"Yeah, we wanted to wish you luck for your first practice session later today," he said.

"Here!" Mibuchi pushed a card into Riko's hands. "This is from all of us, from the bottom of our hearts!" He smiled at her with gentle, upturned eyes.

Riko looked at the card in her hands. She could just make out the printed word 'Congratulations' on the cover, it was covered with so much glitter and stickers. Below it, she could see the words 'For making assistant coach' in beautiful cursive handwriting. It was actually quite pretty, once you overlook the excessive decoration. She flipped it open, and her eyes were immediately blinded by paragraphs and paragraphs of the same cursive handwriting. Riko glanced at Mibuchi, who was still smiling happily, from the corner of her eye. This must be from him.

The paragraphs continued until the back cover of the card. Flipping it over, she could see a message in a different handwriting squeezed in the bottom right corner. It said, 'Good luck! Looking forward to having you as coach' and a smiley face. From Nebuya. It really was quite touching, if not for the glaring wasabi stain right next to it.

Next to Nebuya's message was a crude drawing of a male genital organ. Hayama, of course.

Riko looked up at the three of them, Hayama smirking right in front of her, Nebuya sporting a grin, and Mibuchi still smiling so happily.

"Er...thanks," said Riko. "I'll...keep it somewhere safe and secure."

Mibuchi gasped in appreciation, his smile becoming wider. Nebuya chuckled.

As Riko tucked the card away in her bag, a thought occurred to her. She turned to Mibuchi, and said, "Wait, when you said all of us...you meant just you, Nebuya-kun and Hayama-kun, right?"

Mibuchi blinked at her question, and then gulped. "Um...yes, of course, Riko-chan!" He laughed, nervously, Riko noticed with narrowed eyes. "There are just three of us on the card after all!"

Riko glared at Mibuchi, who was looking away from her with a forced smile. "Please tell me you didn't try to get Akashi-kun to sign on this too."

At her words, Riko saw that he definitely swallowed, before saying, "Whaat? Sei-chan? Why would I do that?" and he laughed nervously again. Nebuya was nodding at her with a forced smile as well, and Hayama had sighed in front of her.

Riko sighed as well, and then said, "Just tell me what he said when you asked him to."

Mibuchi and Nebuya flinched. Mibuchi looked at the ground, while Nebuya tentatively told her, "He said...that such frivolous gifts were not necessary...when you haven't even proven that you were worthy of them."

"Ouch," Hayama said, before dissolving into laughter. He stopped abruptly when he saw Riko gripping her book with too much force.

"That's just the way Sei-chan works," Mibuchi earnestly tried to placate her. "I'm sure he'll acknowledge how good you are once we start practising together." He tried to smile, to dissolve the tension. "All of us together during practice! It'll be so fun!"

Leaning back nonchalantly, Hayama began to say, "It's true, though, we don't _actually_ know if Riko is even good at coac-"

"So are you nervous for later?" Nebuya cut across him quickly, a forced grin on his face as he saw Riko's face blacken for a moment, her hands closing into fists and moving dangerously close to Hayama.

Riko didn't answer him immediately. She took a few deep breaths. Whether she liked it or not, Akashi made a lot of sense. They wouldn't know how good she was until she actually proved it. She frowned inwardly. If so, why the hell did he vouch for her? Was he just trying to mess with her? Or was he at least just trying to give her a fair chance to prove herself? The brat was confusing as hell.

After another breath, she turned to look at Nebuya, with a sincere smile. "I'm fine, Nebuya-kun. I am experienced in coaching after all."

Nebuya and Mibuchi looked relieved at her mood change, while Hayama was scratching his head and looking at her thoughtfully.

"Yeah, so how _do_ you coach players anyway?" he asked curiously.

Riko shrugged nonchalantly as she moved to read her book on Hayama's legs once more. "Mm, well, on the first day, I usually make the players take their shirts off." She didn't realise when the boys froze at these words.

She thought back nostalgically to Seirin, and of Hyuuga and Kiyoshi. Smiling, she continued, "And then I would also want them shout out their motivations to the school, and risk confessing to their crush naked if they don't fulfil them."

The three boys were starting to inch away from her.

Smiling wider, Riko finished with, "I'd also make my players eat lots of supplements! You can't build healthy muscles if you don't eat healthy food."

Hayama slipped off her desk, while mumbling to himself, "Nasty."

After immersing herself in the memory of Hyuuga and Kiyoshi forcing down one of her meals, she turned back to the boys, to see them standing a metre away from her.

Riko blinked. "What?"

* * *

Despite her words to the boys, Riko was slightly nervous to attend her first practice session. The truth of the matter was that Rakuzan was so different from anything she'd ever experienced. Hayama was right in that sense, no matter how irritating he was.

She fought off a mounting sense of nervousness when she arrived at the Rakuzan gym. It was _huge_, bigger than even her father's, and his was a national-level gym. She took a moment to bask in the state-of-the-art facilities the gym provided. It had everything she had ever wished for her players, treadmills, exercise bikes, and even a leg speed builder, and VertiMax, a training system used by actual NBA players. She closed her eyes, letting the whirr of the treadmills, and clinks of the dumbbells wash over her. _This_ was what she came to Rakuzan for. This was what her father, and her friends at Seirin wanted her to experience.

Feeling slightly happier, she opened her eyes again, and walked more confidently towards the basketball courts. As she approached them, she saw Shirogane-sensei sitting on one of the benches by the side. He was looking at the players in front of him, who were all warming up, and performing layups. She glanced towards them as well as she approached him, swallowing slightly. There were so many of them. Compared to Seirin's six players, she felt completely out of her depth.

Reaching Shirogane-sensei, she cleared her throat to get his attention. "Shirogane-sensei! I'm here now, reporting for my first practice session as assistant coach!"

He looked up at her from the corner of his eye, then nodded in greeting.

"Riko-san." He turned back to the players in front of them, still performing their layups, and gestured at them. "These are the first-string players." He pointed towards their right. "Beyond there are the courts for the second-stringers. And further beyond that, is where the third-stringers do their exercises."

Riko nodded, mentally noting all this down. She inwardly swallowed at the fact that Rakuzan had so many courts, one each for each of the strings. And so many players too. She glanced towards the left, at the first-stringers. She estimated that there were at least thirty of them here. There would be even more in the second string and third string.

"I just want you to familiarise with the way Rakuzan does things for today. Observe things. Make a note of your surroundings." He exhaled loudly through his nose. "You can't contribute much until you understand how things are done here in Rakuzan." He looked at her again from the corner of his eye. "Forget how you did things in the past. You're in Rakuzan now. We are winners." As he finished, he waved a lazy hand at her to dismiss her.

Riko inwardly bristled as she left him. How was she going to contribute if she was expected to behave exactly like every Rakuzan person? And she was only expected to observe today, too. She had hoped to at least be able to contribute by the second hour at least. Rakuzan players had intense practice schedules during off-season, between 3-4 hours for 3 weekdays, and 8 hours on both Saturdays and Sundays. It was intense, and the Rakuzan players even had school.

She walked around the gym, eyes focusing on the first stringers like a hawk. All of them were performing perfect layups, revealing how often and how intensely they practised. She tried to measure their stats through their gym clothes. They were definitely higher than Izuki and Hyuuga's level, which really was very good, although not up to Kiyoshi's level. As she narrowed her eyes to measure another first-stringer, she was suddenly called by a familiar voice.

"Hey, Riko!"

Turning towards the source, she saw that it was Hayama, waving frantically at her, a basketball attached to his other hand. Mibuchi and Eikichi were with him, and they both smiled at her genially as she approached them. All of them appeared to be practising their ball-handling.

"How are you finding things so far, Riko-chan?" asked Mibuchi, smiling at her cheerfully.

Riko shrugged. "It's been pretty boring...Shirogane-sensei says I should just observe things for today." She sighed, thinking that maybe she should ogle the Rakuzan equipment once again.

"Aw...don't worry, Riko-chan, things'll get better," Nebuya said, clapping her shoulder. He had taken to calling Riko 'Riko-chan' too, like Mibuchi. It was probably a testament to how much they were around each other.

Riko shot a quick glance at his bicep, and her eyes immediately bulged at the stats. Even though she couldn't see his torso, it was clear that he was at a whole other level than every other first-stringer in the gym. His muscle strength and endurance were off the charts. She had never seen anything like it. She wondered how Kiyoshi would fare against him in a Center battle.

Before she could comment, all of them were suddenly interrupted by a strangled sound, the sound of someone trying to control his emotions. Riko immediately turned towards the source, and her eyes narrowed at the sight.

Akashi appeared to be berating one of the first-stringers, who was kneeling on the floor. Apparently, his knees had given out somehow. Was he injured?

The entire gym had fallen silent at the sound, and so Riko could hear Akashi's every word.

"For every thirty layups, you miss two. That is nearly a seven-percent rate of failure. Do you think that is good enough, Tadashi?"

His voice was as calm and certain as it always was, and reverberated around the gym like tendrils of frost creeping into every corner.

The boy called Tadashi let out a breath in response, and everyone heard it. "N-no, Akashi-kun."

"Then, what do you think should be done?" His voice remained level, like he was asking about the weather, yet there was a hardness to it. "Do you think this is first-string level?"

The boy swallowed. "I-I'll practise harder, Akashi-kun."

Riko heard Akashi hum quietly. Her eyes narrowed even further. She felt Nebuya's comforting hand on her shoulder again.

"Well, that is obvious, of course." Akashi crossed his arms. "However, you are pulling down the rest of the first string. Your failures are tarnishing the quality of our level." He sighed quietly. "That is not teamwork, don't you think, Tadashi?"

Tadashi was looking at the floor. The silence dragged on for a while. "No, Akashi-kun. I-I'll move to the second string."

Akashi sighed quietly again, closing his eyes. "But Tadashi, you have been declining for the past two weeks." He opened his eyes, looking at the boy coldly. "I feel that even the second string will deteriorate if you move there."

His words rang across the gym. Riko blinked. What? Was he implying...

She saw Tadashi nod. "I will resign from the basketball club, Akashi-kun." The boy took a deep breath. "I don't want to pull everyone down."

Riko was feeling a rage rise in her as she saw Akashi give a satisfied smile and a nod. She couldn't just observe this, even as she felt the pressure from Nebuya's hand increase. Was this the way Rakuzan did things? One failure meant you weren't a team player, or worthy of playing basketball? She couldn't comprehend this. Akashi was captain. This wasn't the way he should act. Feeling Shirogane-sensei's eyes on her, and with Hyuuga in her mind, she pushed off Nebuya's hand and strode towards the pair.

Akashi turned his steely gaze onto her as she walked up to him.

"You can't just kick him out like that," Riko said, barely containing her anger. "You haven't even given him the chance to improve."

Akashi raised an eyebrow. "The chance?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "The chance to improve is during practice, and he hasn't been improving at all. And I didn't force him to resign. He chose to himself." He directed his gaze at Tadashi, who nodded immediately.

"Well, you're not giving him the time to improve," said Riko, her voice straining under her control.

Akashi blinked at her words, and then let out a quiet sigh. "Riko, it seems that you do not understand the Rakuzan practice standards." His gaze hardened. "We do not tolerate sub-par performance." He walked over to a basketball and picked it up. Looking at Riko in the eye, he continued, "I will demonstrate it to you."

He turned to look at Tadashi again. "Tadashi, I will give you another chance to remain in the first string. We will have a one-on-one match, up to ten baskets." Tadashi inhaled sharply. "Judging from the difference in our skill levels, though, I will not defend you when you have the ball. But you are free to defend me as you will. If you win, you can remain in the first string. If not, you will resign, as you previously stated."

Tadashi swallowed, looking like he wanted to decline the offer. But Akashi was gazing at him, _making_ him agree. Riko was about to protest on his behalf, when he suddenly stammered, "O-Okay, Akashi-kun."

Riko gritted her teeth in suppressed anger.

* * *

The one-on-one match commenced without ado. Riko was avoiding the looks from Hayama, Mibuchi, Nebuya and Shirogane-sensei. Her attention was utterly fixed on Akashi.

Because his skill was breathtaking.

When he had the ball, he made minimal movements, yet they were all beautifully precise and accurate. Every shot counted. Every dribble calculated to aid in every one of his strategies. And his predictive ability. Even though he wasn't defending Tadashi, he could predict where Tadashi would move to defend _him_, as he dodged all of Tadashi's blocks and frantic defensive stances to make shots that always went in.

When Tadashi had the ball, he merely stood by to allow Tadashi to shoot. But although Tadashi was making a lot of shots (he was a good player, Riko could see), he couldn't keep up with the shots Akashi was making. Because he made errors while Akashi didn't. It was very strange, it was like Akashi was emanating such ominous pressure that Tadashi would fumble and miss a shot.

And so, naturally, with the ten-basket limit, Akashi reached ten first. After the game, Tadashi had quietly picked up his things. Riko was still staring in horror at what she had done. She hadn't meant to humiliate the boy. As he left, he glanced at her when he walked past her. She caught the look of anger at her, and the shame in his eyes. It made her feel shrivelled up inside.

As Akashi stared at her with his pressuring gaze, Riko swallowed, and then said, "I...I still don't agree..." She was still in shock. But she felt her pride rise within her. She had to fight against this, her values were at stake.

Turning towards Hayama, Mibuchi and Nebuya, she quickly beseeched them, "Don't you guys agree with me? You shouldn't kick out someone who hasn't had the chance to improve himself. He's your _teammate_."

But her heart fell when she saw them avert their eyes from her, Mibuchi included. He was so nice. How could he feel the same way? How could _anyone_?

Akashi said to her, "This is Rakuzan's standard, Riko." His voice felt like it was coming from far away.

Because she was feeling her pride shrivel up inside, and it had never failed her before.

* * *

Throughout the rest of the practice session, Riko sat next to Shirogane-sensei, eyes looking blankly at the first-stringers performing their drills perfectly and accurately. Akashi was practising his ball-handling with Hayama, Mibuchi and Nebuya. His phenomenal stats swam in her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to be impressed, even though they were the best she had ever seen on anyone, Nebuya and Kiyoshi included. She was thinking too much about the way he had dominated over that other boy.

She had to get out of there.

Mumbling to Shirogane-sensei that she was going to explore the Rakuzan gyms, she got up from the bench, and wandered over to the second string gym. She passed by all the second-stringers, their stats brushing over her as she glanced at them from the corner of her eye. They were all good, and could probably qualify for the first string, if not for a few deficiencies here and there. She wondered where her excitement went. She would have loved to have coached such an excellent bunch of players.

She walked towards the third string gym, and spotted them doing basic stamina exercises. Glancing at some of them doing layups, she thought absently that they were still above average, better than Koganei and Tsuchida. The standard of Rakuzan players truly was impressive.

A whistle blew from one of the many assistant coaches Rakuzan had, in the third string gym, signalling that practice was over. The third-stringers immediately moved to warm down, like disciplined little ants. Riko felt a sense of insecurity crawl over her. There were so many assistant coaches, as expected of Rakuzan, but would she even get the chance to coach the third string? Would she get the chance to coach Akashi?

She heard Akashi's voice reply her in her mind. _You won't if you still can't comprehend Rakuzan's standards. _

Shaking her head to clear his voice from her mind, she turned to move towards the third string gym exit, but accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she said automatically, and looked up to see a grey-haired boy, who merely glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and moved past her to leave the gym.

She stared after him. His stats were just average, and strangely, comfortingly so. She felt as though all the impressive stats from the Rakuzan players were beginning to hurt her eyes. His completely average stats soothed her somewhat.

She moved to leave the gym as well.

* * *

The sun had already set; the Rakuzan practice session had gone on so long after school that it had already gotten this late. Riko had to get used to this. She was still walking towards her dorms, the corridors illuminated by the cold fluorescent lights of Rakuzan. It seemed like such a long time ago that she thought they made the buildings look so pretty.

But as she reached the female dormitory building, she was suddenly called by someone.

"Riko!"

She turned around to see Hayama, who was panting slightly, and still in his gym clothes. He must have stayed a little later than everyone else. Did he run here?

"Hey," she said, her tone missing some of the edge she usually had when talking to Hayama. She honestly didn't have the energy to be irritated with him. _He's just like all the Rakuzan people. _The thought resounded in her mind as she looked at him, as he continued panting.

"Er..." He said finally, scratching his head.

Riko just stared at him. What was wrong with him? She'd never heard him so stuck on words before. He was normally so talkative, it was impossible to shut him up.

Then, he suddenly pulled off his shirt.

Riko gaped at his actions. What was he doing?! "Hayama-kun!" she yelled, leaping back from him as he looked at her with a slight frown, his shirt in his hands.

"What?" He continued looking at her with a childish pout. "You said that you normally get your players to take their shirts off during the first practice session, right?"

Riko was panting as she continued staring at him with wide eyes. Huh?

Then, it clicked.

Riko had never laughed harder than she ever did then, Hayama still staring at her with his slight pout as the tears came out of her eyes, and she gripped her stomach because it was _hurting_ so much.

* * *

"So you're saying that he actually made that poor guy leave?"

Hyuuga's slightly angry tones sounded in Riko's ears, as she sat in her bed under her blanket, leaning against her pillows comfortably. She had just got out of the shower, and was having her regular nightly conversations with Hyuuga.

"Yeah...it was really hard to watch," Riko sighed, as she lay her head back on her pillow. "I wish my Miracle was as easy to handle as yours."

Hyuuga laughed. "Yeah, he's great. It was hard to believe he was one of them when we first met him. He works really well with Kagami, though. They're spectacular to watch."

Riko nodded to herself, and wished she could see Kagami's stats with her eyes. With the way Hyuuga was raving about him, she wanted to compare him with the overwhelming stats of all the Rakuzan players she had seen today.

"Anyway," Hyuuga continued. "Kiyoshi wanted to ask you, and me too, after hearing this story of yours." She heard him take a deep breath. "D-do you think you'll be okay at Rakuzan?"

She heard a tinge of slight regret in his tone. How could he? Riko rolled her eyes. Even if he did push her to go to Rakuzan, even she knew how big of an opportunity this was. She was doing all this for his sake. And there was no way any of them could have known Rakuzan was...like this.

But when she heard his question, the unbidden image of Hayama taking off his shirt emerged in her mind, and she couldn't help cracking a wide grin. That memory would sustain her through many dark moments, she just knew.

"Yeah." She heard her voice become stronger, optimism swelling within her, blossoming from that memory. "I'll be just fine." And her smile became wider.


	4. Chapter 4

"I just don't understand him at all! He gets me the assistant coach position, then he says something like how I need to be mindful of the Rakuzan method. But I thought I was supposed to contribute my own experience!"

Riko slammed her fist on Hayama's table, gritting her teeth in frustration. She had turned around to vent to Hayama during the brief recess before homeroom started. Ever since the Shirtless Incident (as Riko had started to dub it in her mind), she had started thinking of Hayama as someone she could pour her frustrations to, even if he was still stuck with the Rakuzan mentality. She felt that she could trust him somewhat.

Riko had been thinking all about the disastrous first practice session for several nights, and throughout the other practice sessions she attended. The memory kept replaying in her mind like a broken projector, evoking bitterness and shame in herself like sinister vines stretching and entrapping her heart. Akashi demonstrating to her the Rakuzan way and Mibuchi, Nebuya and Hayama actually willing to succumb to it rattled her. It brought out all the feelings she rarely felt: insecurities, vulnerabilities, self-doubt. It made her wonder if she could even coach in a place like Rakuzan.

But her pride was stronger than that. After the initial shock, she felt it stir from where it had shrivelled up deep within her, with every time she reviewed the memory of Akashi's demonstration.

And she felt her need to coach Akashi rise even stronger than it was before. His phenomenal stats aside, the more she remembered his cold, hard gaze, the more her pride rose, and the stronger the need became. It was strange to her...she was initially so shaken she wanted to give up. But she still wanted to coach him, even if she didn't understand him or his motivations in the slightest.

"Whoah there," Hayama said, grabbing her fist when she wanted to slam it down again. Sighing, he leaned back, and then said, "Well, then, so why are you even trying to understand him? Akashi's just...no one can understand him." He shrugged. "You don't know if you can really believe what he's saying sometimes. He just says things. You know?"

Riko stared at him with a slight frown. "And you're just okay with that? With listening to everything he says without even trying to understand why he says them?"

Hayama shrugged again. Crossing his arms, he continued, "Yeah. You just gotta follow what he says. He has his own reasons. Why would I need to question what he thinks? I _trust_ him, you know."

Riko gaped at him. "You _trust_ hi-"

"Yeah, I do," Hayama said immediately, cutting her off. "All of us do." He leaned forward eagerly, and then said, "So why don't you just do the same? He gets you the assistant coach position, you be assistant coach. He tells you to follow the Rakuzan way, you just follow the Rakuzan way. Easy." He leaned back again, his signature impish smirk back on his face. "And then you can have a happy high school life."

Riko bristled at his words. "No!" She slammed her fist on his table again, and he jumped slightly at her action. "I _won't_! It's wrong!" She glared at Hayama intensely. "I'll prove it to you."

Then she whipped around with a huff, and concentrated on her textbook even though Hayama kept trying to get her to turn around again, kicking her chair and chanting out her name with increasing volume, until the whole class was looking at their corner.

But Riko didn't notice, because she was gritting her teeth in determination. She was going to make Akashi acknowledge her, and her methods.

* * *

When Riko entered the Rakuzan gym later that day for another practice session, she found that all the players were already lining up in front of Shirogane-sensei, and the assistant coaches as well opposite the players and next to Shirogane-sensei. She quickly fell in line with the assistant coaches, quirking a small smile at Mibuchi and Nebuya, who were waving discreetly at her as they spotted her. She hid a snigger as she noticed Hayama already spacing out, but stopped immediately when she spotted Akashi right in front of everyone, serene as always.

"Mm...okay...the reason I wanted to gather all of you here is to announce two things," Shirogane-sensei said, eyebrows furrowed and looking at a clipboard in his hands.

"First are the dates of our training camp. It'll last one week, of course, and it will be held about three weeks before the Interhigh. It is mandatory for everyone to attend." He stopped here to glare sternly at all the players.

"Second, we will be having a practice match next Saturday. As befitting of our reputation, the school that'll be coming to practise with us is also of a certain level." He took a breath, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. "Shuutoku High."

Immediately, some of the newer third-string players started murmuring among themselves. Riko noticed Akashi's brow furrow imperceptibly. Interesting.

"One of the Three Kings of Tokyo," Shirogane-sensei continued in a slightly louder voice above the murmurs. "You should be aware of the school already. They will be sending their regulars and their first string, so only our first string players will participate in the match. But the second and third string players can watch _after_ they have finished all their basic stamina exercises and shooting drills."

He glared at all the players again, and then said, "You are all dismissed. Return to your training."

As the players bustled to do their respective exercises, Riko stood there for a moment. The memory of last summer was running through her mind, like a tidal wave. The numbers _141_ and _45_ were flashing in her eyes. Hyuuga's face, so determined, so resolute, was clear; she saw Izuki in her mind's eye, desperately passing the ball to him for a three-pointer. She saw Tsuchida frowning as he tried to grab a rebound and compete with the overwhelmingly strong Center, Taisuke Otsubo.

Then, the vision was gone. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath. She was in Rakuzan now. This was an opportunity.

Riko quickly rushed towards Shirogane-sensei, her heart beating in anticipation. She couldn't believe she would get the chance to observe such a high-level match not only in person, but in the capacity of assistant coach for one of the teams. Only Rakuzan could have offered this to her.

"Shirogane-sensei," Riko called out, gaining his attention as he looked up from the clipboard at her. She noticed him sigh discreetly and she frowned at that. Why did he always seem so weary around her?

"I would like to respectfully request for me to assist you during the practice match between Rakuzan and Shuutoku," Riko continued. "I believe that I can contribute because I have had experience coaching a win against one of Tokyo's best eight-"

"You are not permitted," interjected Shirogane-sensei, a hint of weariness in his tone.

Riko gaped at him. "Why not, Sensei?"

"Riko-san..." Shirogane-sensei exhaled loudly through his nose. "There are so many assistant coaches at Rakuzan. A lot of them would want to assist me." He looked at her sternly. "And a lot of them have more experience than you, a high school student."

His words stung. Riko felt her heart throb with anger. He definitely meant skill as well.

"I'm afraid I can't permit you to assist me in coaching just because you request me to. You can watch just like everyone else. That should be good enough," he said. Turning around to walk towards the first string players, he said with his back facing her, "Now go do your job with the third string players."

Riko blinked in surprise at his retreating back. This was the first time he had outwardly ordered her to coach a particular string. She had been spending the practice sessions since the first one going to all three sections, trying to analyse what would be most needed in each string.

Although she knew he meant it in a derogatory way, she felt happy that she was going to get the chance to do her job with one of the strings. The third string players were good to her.

But...she frowned bitterly at the thought that she wouldn't be able to coach the Rakuzan-Shuutoku match. She shouldn't have been surprised at his words, but it was still difficult to hear. She felt someone approach her and put a hand on her shoulder.

Turning, she saw that it was Mibuchi. Nebuya and Hayama were behind him.

"Riko-chan, do you want to help me do my stretches?" Mibuchi said, with gentle eyes. "You can let me know if I've done them enough to begin practising."

"I can't because I have to help the third string instead," she replied. From the corner of her eye, she saw Nebuya shaking his head in sympathy and Hayama swallowing, thinking that she was angry. Why would they act that way? The third string players were still teammates.

"I'm just disappointed that I won't be able to coach the first string during the practice match," she told them with a sigh.

"I hope you weren't expecting to coach the first string so quickly." _His_ voice came from behind her, even and impassive as it always was. She turned to look at Akashi striding towards their group.

"You have only recently started. You have not proven your worth." His steely gaze bore into Riko, and she felt like she was struggling to stay afloat in a sea of water. "Rakuzan rewards winners and high performers. Prove to us that you are one."

He turned to Hayama, Mibuchi and Nebuya. "Come with me. We will practise our formations after stretching. Stop doing such unnecessary things." _Stop this useless encouragement nonsense. _Riko could hear the heavy implication in Akashi's words. _This is the Rakuzan way._

Riko watched them as they left. Then, she turned as well, to walk towards the third string gym. So it was the Rakuzan way to leave people alone to solve their own problems, rather than doing it together.

A flash of Hayama, in the Shirtless Incident, ran through her mind. She furrowed her eyebrows in determination.

This was fine. She was strong enough to handle it without the support.

* * *

Riko entered the third string gym to see them already warming up with the jump ropes, and jogging around the gym. She walked around the players, scrutinising them carefully with narrowed eyes. That player needed to build stronger calf muscles. The one next to him needed to improve his running technique. The one in front of them would need to improve his stamina.

As she continued walking, she felt a sudden contact on her knee. Looking down, she realised that she had accidentally bumped into the shoulder of a grey-haired boy, who was already doing his stretches on the floor. He was glaring at her for interrupting.

Riko blinked. She hadn't realised he was there. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She squatted down to his level and smiled. "I hope I didn't disturb you too much."

The boy's frown disappeared and his face became impassive, smooth and clear like crystal. "No, it's fine." He turned away from her to continue his stretches.

Riko frowned as she watched him stretch. She extended an arm and placed her hand on his back, as she said, "You're not stretching your hamstrings enough. You have to lean forward more." She applied a little pressure on her hand.

The boy blinked at her actions, and then did as she instructed. After remaining in that position for several seconds, he switched position. As he did so, he said, "I suppose you're not actually a random passerby then?"

Riko smiled, and she moved her arm away. "No, I'm not. I'm Riko, one of the assistant coaches."

The boy nodded as he continued his stretches. "That's strange. I didn't expect to see someone practically my age coaching at Rakuzan." Riko was wondering if there was any insult behind that statement (his voice was as emotionless as his visage), when he continued, "I'm Mayuzumi Chihiro. Third year. And third string player."

This time, Riko could sense some bitterness behind his words. She frowned inwardly. What was there to be so disappointed about? The Rakuzan players were confusing her. Outwardly, she cheerfully said, "So you're my senpai then. Nice to meet you, Mayuzumi-senpai! I hope we can get along well."

Mayuzumi nodded. "Yeah, I hope we will. Since I assume you'll be stuck coaching us third-stringers for a long time." The way he said 'third-stringers' rattled Riko again. He spat the words out like they were poison.

Riko frowned at him. "There's no shame in being one of the third string. You're all very good players." She saw him scoff at her words, and she continued with slight irritation, "It's true. Your basic fundamentals are strong."

"There's no point in having strong fundamentals if you're outshone in every other way by others. Those Uncrowned Kings," said Mayuzumi, a trace of bitterness in his voice. "With them there, there's no way I can get to play in a match."

Uncrowned Kings? Was he talking about Hayama and the others?

Riko knitted her eyebrows as she looked at him, and said, "It's not about playing in a match, isn't it? It's about supporting your team, even when you're in the third string." She saw him look away from her. She wondered irritatedly why Rakuzan people were so individualistic. "Anyway, it just takes some time. You just need to keep working hard, and eventually the coach will recognise your abilities and put you in a match, even if you're not a regular starter."

She tried to smile encouragingly at him even though he was still looking away from her and she had the urge to force his face towards hers. "That's what I'm doing too. We can both do it together! I'm going to work hard coaching the third string so that eventually I will get the chance to coach the first string in actual matches. And you can work hard with me so that you will eventually be put in a match."

Mayuzumi snorted. "How naive are you?" He stopped his stretches and stood up. "I'm a third year. I've been working hard for longer than most people here." He looked at her from above, eyes narrowed but still revealing no emotion. "I sincerely wish you luck in your endeavour. It will be hard for you. But for me, my time is almost over. I don't think I can attend practice for much longer."

After he finished, he walked away from her without looking back once. Riko ground her teeth at his retreating back. What was with his defeatist attitude? It infuriated her.

She stood up, shaking her head to try to clear her mind of Mayuzumi. She would have to try talking some sense into him once he was less angry and bothered.

She turned back to the other third-stringers. They needed her too, and she would do her best to help them, even if some of them were even more demotivated than Mayuzumi.

* * *

In subsequent practice sessions Riko tried looking for Mayuzumi, but he was very difficult to spot. And in the times she did spot him, she was immediately dragged away by Hayama ("Am I doing my stretches alright, Riko? Huh, Riko? Riko, you're not looking!") so by the time she rushed back to the third string gym to talk to him, she couldn't find him anymore. She had never met anyone so easy to lose track of.

And so, as the week wore on, Riko busied herself with researching Shuutoku. They must have changed from last year. While she might not get the chance to coach the Rakuzan team playing, the research would still be useful. And it was Shuutoku High. Granted, she was at Rakuzan, which was arguably more prestigious, but she was still filled with anticipation of seeing Shuutoku's team in action this year.

She found out that they had obtained one of the Generation of Miracles too. Midorima Shintarou. The former shooting guard of the Miracles. She couldn't wait to see his technique to compare it with Mibuchi's. Mibuchi had shown her his shooting style during one of the earlier practice sessions and she had been blown away. It had been so _beautiful_, and so _fluid_, his motions smooth and certain, the ball completely within his control despite the distance from the hoop. His form was so effortless too, it was utterly breathtaking to watch. And it looked a little familiar – with a pang, she thought it reminded her of Hyuuga.

But if Mibuchi, as an Uncrowned King, already had such an impressive technique, she wondered how much better Midorima Shintarou could be.

When Saturday came around, it was with great anticipation when she entered the Teikou gym. She could feel the buzz in the air, the murmurs of the players as they did their exercises, and they were normally so silent like disciplined soldiers. Glancing over at the first string as she made her way into the third string gym, she saw Hayama excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet and shouting at Mibuchi, even more hyperactive than usual. Mibuchi was trying to calm him down, and Nebuya was munching on an energy bar. She wondered if he was nervous to be matched up with Otsubo.

As she entered the third string gym, she automatically glanced around to look for Mayuzumi. She couldn't see him anywhere. Frowning, she scoured the whole gym to find his signature grey hair.

After nearly half an hour of looking, some of the third stringers already moving into practising drills, she still couldn't find him. Approaching one of the other assistant coaches who was perusing a clipboard, she tapped his shoulder to gain his attention. When he turned to look at her, she asked him, "Excuse me, I'm looking for Mayuzumi Chihiro? He's a third year student in the third string. I can't find him anywhere in the gym. Could you tell me where he could be, if you've set him any training sets apart from the others, perhaps?"

The assistant coach frowned in thought, scratching his head slightly. "Mayuzumi Chihiro...I don't really remember him. Hold on a moment." He flipped through the documents on his clipboard, trailing his finger down the list of names.

"Ah, yes," he finally said, jabbing his finger on the clipboard. He read from the notes, "Mayuzumi Chihiro. Third string player. Zero matches played. Little chance of being promoted to the second string." He looked up at her once he was done. "He quit the club recently."

Riko blinked. "What? He _quit_?"

The assistant coach nodded his confirmation. He rustled the papers on his clipboard. "I suppose he couldn't handle the training menu." Turning away from her to walk away, he continued as he left, "That's fine, Rakuzan doesn't need players like that anyway."

Riko continued gaping as she stared at the assistant coach's retreating back. She had known Mayuzumi was already disillusioned, but she didn't know it was to this extent. He was very difficult to read.

But she couldn't ponder on the issue any longer, because there was suddenly a commotion somewhere in the first string gym. She heard snatches of "Shuutoku" in the murmurs and, feeling her heart leap in her throat, she made to stride towards the first string gym. Shuutoku was here! Mayuzumi flew out of her mind in her excitement.

But before she could make a step, she was suddenly called out by an _irritatingly_ familiar voice, "Riikoo!" Turning her head towards the voice, she saw Hayama sprinting at full speed towards her. Holding out her hands as he skidded to a stop right in front of her, she quickly said, "Hayama-kun, please, I know-"

But she couldn't continue because he had grabbed one of her outstretched hands and started dragging her over to the first string gym. As she felt herself being dragged like a sack of potatoes for the how-many'th time, she sighed inwardly.

They both arrived in the first string gym to see several of the players gathering around the entrance to the gym. Hayama, still dragging Riko, rudely pushed players aside to get to the front side of the entrance. In the midst of the "hey!"s and "watch it!"s, Riko quickly apologised, bowing her head at every player who glared at them. Her fingers were starting to feel numb in Hayama's grip.

They reached the side of the entrance to see Akashi shaking hands with Otsubo, captain to captain. Hayama squashed Riko to the side of the door, very much like that first time in their classroom, and muttered to Riko, "Move a bit, will you? I want to see Midorima."

Scowling as she pressed her hand against his chest while he craned his neck above the other players around them, Riko tried to poke her head and peer through the crowd around them. Glancing behind Otsubo to the players behind, she finally saw him. Midorima Shintarou. He was standing next to a shorter, black-haired boy who was elbowing him incessantly and whispering something to him. And Midorima was carrying a...what? A neon pink lipstick? Huh? It was lying flat on his palm. And his fingers were...taped?

But before Riko could scratch her head in puzzlement, she saw Akashi turn towards Midorima, and Midorima did so too. They both looked at each other for a while. Riko suddenly felt the temperature drop, in the silence. It seemed as though everyone was holding their breath. She could feel the awkwardness, even when she wasn't even next to them. She saw Akashi open his mouth, and strained her ears to listen to their conversation.

But all he said was, "Shintarou.", and he gave Midorima a nod. Riko caught his gaze – it was heavy, and measured. She felt the pressure from it creep over her again. But she couldn't discern the slight emotion in it.

Midorima, meanwhile, had used a hand to push up his spectacles, so she couldn't see his eyes. He nodded as well and said, "Akashi."

At this point, Hayama patted Riko on the head from above where he was leaning over her and pointed at Shirogane-sensei next to Akashi. Shirogane-sensei was also locking eyes with Shuutoku's coach, both of them giving steely gazes at each other. Glancing upwards from the corner of her eye at Hayama's face, she saw his eyes bulging with suppressed mirth.

Both pairs continued looking at each other for a moment.

"Why are they acting like scornful ex-lovers?" Riko whispered to Hayama, and he immediately cracked up, stuffing his fist into his mouth to hide the sounds.

Then, the black-haired boy next to Midorima, who had previously been looking between the both sides curiously and with badly suppressed excitement, suddenly cleared his throat and said, "Ehh, weelll, I'd like to put my bags somewhere now, so...locker room, or benches?"

And then Akashi and Midorima blinked, and Shirogane-sensei and Shuutoku's coach stirred from their positions, clearing their throats. Shirogane started gesturing and walking to lead Shuutoku over where they could put their things, and as everyone started moving, noise filled the gym once again.

"Maan, that was _awesome_," Hayama said, wiping mirthful tears from his eyes. Then, a cocky smirk arose on his face. "I can't _wait_ to play them. They look strong."

"That's good, now get off me now," Riko said grumpily as she shoved him away from her. He had still been leaning on her despite the dispersing crowd.

Ignoring Hayama's immediate whines and protests, she looked towards Shuutoku's retreating backs, her eyes shining with anticipation. Because he was right, and _she_ couldn't wait either.

* * *

After Shuutoku put away their things, they came out to the court to stretch and warm up. Riko was over in the third string gym, trying to concentrate while she helped a group of third stringers with their stamina drills, blowing her whistle for every set. However, they were distracted as well, and eventually Riko and the other assistant coaches relented and all of them filed into the first string gym. Fortunately, the Shuutoku players were still warming up by performing layup drills.

The Rakuzan players, having warmed up, were in a huddle by their side of the court. They were deep in discussion. She was about to move over there too, when she passed by the Shuutoku side and overheard someone saying, "What, Shin-chan? You're not playing?"

Turning her head to look at the Shuutoku group, she saw the black-haired boy talking to Midorima. Midorima shook his head, adjusted his spectacles and said, "No. After speaking with Rakuzan's coach and Akashi, Nakatani-sensei decided that it would be better for me to sit out this match, and let the other Shuutoku players get the practice." He looked sternly at the other boy. "Now continue your layup drills."

Riko frowned in disappointment as she heard him. She felt the bitterness creep over her like a fog. She had been so looking forward to seeing him play against Akashi. It had been all she had been thinking about all week. Glancing over at Akashi at the Rakuzan side, he was calmly explaining something to the rest of the Rakuzan team. She supposed he wasn't going to be playing either. She couldn't help wondering if this was a deliberate decision. She looked at Midorima, who was carefully inspecting his taped fingers and holding his lipstick primly. On both their parts.

"Jeez, Shin-chan, it's going to be really difficult to beat them without you," the black-haired boy was whining. He stretched his arms, pouting slightly.

"You have to win anyway, Takao," Midorima told him with sternness in his voice. He frowned at the boy called Takao. "Now go do the layups with everyone."

Takao sighed, then with an impish grin, suddenly ran over to the hoop, cutting through the queue of players. He grabbed a ball, and did a powerful layup. He laughed merrily as he landed on the ground after his jump.

Riko blinked. As the other Shuutoku players started berating him, Riko couldn't help but be impressed with the boy's skill. He really was very good, she could see just from the layup alone.

She smiled slightly at this display of basketball ability, and the smile widened as she saw the boy's antics uniting the team as they irritatedly told him off. Midorima even wandered over to Takao and the group from where he had been slightly isolated by the benches.

Still smiling, she continued over to the Rakuzan side. Sitting down on the benches behind the group huddled together, she overheard Nebuya saying, "So, Akashi, you're not playing, so it's just going to be Kotarou, me and Reo, and then any two first string players?"

Akashi nodded at Nebuya, and then said, "That's correct. We will alternate between a few first string players for the remaining two spots, so that they can get the opportunity to train themselves against a team like Shuutoku. You three, however, will keep playing throughout the game."

"Alright!" Hayama shouted, pumping his fist in the air. He grinned deviously. "This is gonna be fun."

Akashi directed his even gaze at Hayama, and said, "I am expecting you to win, even without me. The three of you should be enough to guarantee victory against Shuutoku without Shintarou. That is Rakuzan's strength."

Riko saw Hayama swallow, and Mibuchi saying, "Of course, Sei-chan, don't worry," as he lifted a hand to pat Akashi on the shoulder, but he withdrew it when Akashi turned his gaze onto him.

After looking at all three of them in the eye, Akashi turned around and moved to select the first string players who would play in the match. Riko saw the boys release breaths of relief, and she frowned. Akashi had no qualms about intimidating his teammates.

What was Shirogane-sensei doing? He seemed to be leaving all the decisions to Akashi. She glanced at him next to Nebuya, his arms crossed. He had just listened to Akashi's words. While Riko could see the logic behind Akashi's decisions, she wondered about his motivation methods. It was completely alien to her. How could the team be excited to win after a speech like that? Glancing at Hayama, she felt slightly sad that all his enthusiasm for the match had gone, and was now replaced with seriousness. He looked completely focused.

_But the two aren't mutually exclusive, Hayama-kun. _

After the Shuutoku players finished their warm up and drills, both teams lined up opposite each other. One of the Rakuzan assistant coaches was going to referee the match.

After the bowing and formalities, the teams got into position. The assistant coach held the ball, the whistle in his mouth. Then he threw the ball high into the air, and blew the whistle.

Riko sat forward, her chin on steepled fingers, and started to watch the match, her eyebrows furrowed in her focus.

* * *

Note: Thank you so much for the reviews! I treasure each one. ^_^

Also, I can't remember if Riko was aware of the existence of the Uncrowned Kings before meeting Hanamiya for the second time in the manga, so in this story, it's hinted that she's only slightly aware of it.


	5. Chapter 5

Riko sat on the edges of the bench, her fingernails digging into her palm, and her teeth sinking into her lower lip. She chanced a quick glance at Akashi, and saw that his face was as impassive as it always was. But for his eyes. They were slightly narrowed, and there was a certain hardness in them.

Because Rakuzan was losing.

It didn't start out that way. In the first quarter, Rakuzan dominated the entire time. Mibuchi, Nebuya and Hayama worked flawlessly with one another, revealing how intensely they practised formations. The remaining two first-stringers were also very good, and supported the three Uncrowned Kings perfectly. Mibuchi's shots went in consecutively, Hayama's dribbles and drives...Riko never thought she could ever be impressed with him, but his ball-handling truly was the best she'd ever seen. Nebuya probably had the worst match-up against Otsubo, but he was still near-indomitable under the net.

And then, after the break, the second quarter was when everything changed.

Shuutoku switched to a 2-3 zone defense, a formation in which three players defended the area around the net while two defended near the perimeter, from the man-to-man defense they had in the first quarter. And they started playing with more fervour and intensity.

Riko bit her lip as she continued watching the intense match unfold.

"Hey, you! Pass the ball here!"

Hayama growled at the Rakuzan first-stringer who was playing point guard. The boy quickly threw the ball over, and it hit Hayama's palm with a smack. Hayama turned immediately and started dribbling with heart-stopping speed towards the basket. Riko could barely hear each individual dribble, the ball was thumping so quickly on the ground.

It was on Hayama's left- , no, now it was on his right- , now left hand again, he was passing by a blond Shuutoku player so quickly, the boy could only turn halfway to face him, he stretched out a hand to stop Hayama but Hayama was already through-

Now Otsubo was right in front of him, how did he get there, was he expecting it- , Hayama couldn't get through Otsubo's defenses, near the net, Nebuya was holding out a hand for a pass. The ball whooshed under Otsubo's arms; Hayama truly was impressive, that pass was so fast, it was heading right for Nebuya's outstretched hand-

It was intercepted by the boy called Takao, how did he sense that pass trajectory- , he was dribbling the ball speedily towards the other end of the court. Hayama was sprinting back to defend, the other two Rakuzan players were also running back but Takao was so fast-

And now Mibuchi and Hayama were finally back at Shuutoku's half-court and Hayama was running towards Takao to steal the ball from Takao's dribbling, but just as his fingers brushed against it, Takao suddenly threw the ball behind him without looking at it. Does that pass even make sense-

The ball ended up in the Shuutoku's shooting guard's hands and he made a perfect three-pointer.

The shot was greeted with cheers from the Shuutoku side. Riko gritted her teeth and she saw Hayama do the same on the court. Mibuchi walked towards Hayama and patted him on the back, saying something to him as Hayama gesticulated angrily, and said something she couldn't hear amidst the Shuutoku cheers.

The round started again, and Takao was holding the ball. He started dribbling slowly, and then suddenly made a quick drive into the zone near the basket. One of the Rakuzan first-stringers marking him immediately moved to defend him, making it hard for him to get through. But he suddenly threw the ball towards the side, towards the blond Shuutoku player. With a scowl on his face, Hayama, who was marking him, immediately settled into a stance that made him look animalistic, guarding the boy furiously.

"You won't get through me," he snarled at the blond boy.

"Don't be rude to your senpai!" Riko heard the boy growl at Hayama, and then mumble something under his breath, which looked like "pineapples" from the way his lips moved.

And then the boy was suddenly dribbling the ball powerfully into the zone, trying to get past Hayama, but Hayama's defence was too intense- , then the ball was suddenly thrown towards the boy's left, it was heading towards Takao who was nearer the basket – this formation was planned, Riko could tell – Takao caught the ball and started doing one of his powerful layups. Nebuya was moving towards him, his arm outstretched to hit the ball when it flew towards the hoop, but Takao was so fast he was going to make it, he was going to make his first leaping step-

Takao suddenly fell to the floor as Hayama barrelled into him, desperate to defend from where he was just a few feet away earlier.

The referee blew his whistle. "Foul! Two free throws!"

At this, Hayama's eyes widened. He turned to look down at Takao on the floor.

He was smirking. The blond boy walked towards him and helped him up. As he stood up, he continued looking at Hayama with a smirk, and then he turned around to walk towards the free throw line, stretching his arms exaggeratedly in preparation for the throw.

"Bastard," Riko saw Hayama growl. Mibuchi walked over to him and whispered something in his ear.

The players gathered around to prepare for a rebound as Takao bounced the ball a few times, before taking a breath and aiming the ball towards the hoop.

The ball flew in perfectly. "One!" The referee called.

During the second free throw, Riko saw Takao just quirk a confident smirk, and then he threw the ball in without any ado.

It was deafening in the Rakuzan gym; calls of "Shuutoku! Shuutoku!" were being chanted from the Shuutoku side, and it was quite impressive that despite their smaller number, the sounds resonated with all their spirit and motivation. The Rakuzan side was merely silently watching, their faces grim.

Riko turned to look at Akashi. His eyebrows were now slightly furrowed, a change from his usual unruffled visage, and the hardness in his eyes had become more pronounced. She felt herself frown at this.

After the free throws by Takao, the game resumed, with Rakuzan starting. However, Riko could tell that Rakuzan's flow was disrupted; the Rakuzan point guard was pressured very intensely by Takao, who was defending in the front of the zone, and he made a weak pass towards the other Rakuzan first-stringer. The boy barely caught the pass without it being intercepted by Shuutoku's power forward. He tried to drive near the basket, but Shuutoku's zone defence was too strong, and he ended up sending a fumbled pass to Mibuchi behind him.

As Mibuchi made to throw a three-pointer, one of the Shuutoku players ran forwards desperately and defended him intensely, forcing Mibuchi out of his form before he could settle into it. Mibuchi immediately dribbled into the perimeter and made a quick jump shot. Two points to Rakuzan.

Unfortunately, those were the only points obtained by Rakuzan in the remaining second quarter. The rest of the time, all of them made a few fumbles as they were pressured by Shuutoku's strong defence. And when the referee called for the ten-minute break before the second half, they silently turned and moved towards the benches with serious expressions, amidst the deafening Shuutoku cries.

Riko stood up to look at them as they moved to pick up their bottles from the benches. Nebuya was looking grim as he picked up an energy bar and ripped it open. Mibuchi looked worried, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes filled with emotion, as he handed a water bottle to Hayama while patting his shoulder.

And Hayama looked angry and upset. Riko had never seen such a frown on him before. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his face. The look on his face was burrowing into her heart and mind, evoking flashes of memories, strangely of how she felt when she coached Seirin during the Interhigh.

She had to go over there. She just _couldn't_ let him remain looking like that any longer.

So Riko stood up and strode towards the team, even as she saw Shirogane-sensei and Akashi do the same from the corner of her eye.

As she approached them, Mibuchi turned to look at her, and with a forced smile on his face, said, "Riko-chan! Hi!", while at the same time, Hayama next to him started growling at her, "What are _you_ doing here–"

Riko slapped him in the face.

"Wh-Wha–?!" Hayama spluttered as his hands flew to his face. "The hell you're doing!"

Riko crossed her arms, and let out a sigh. "Hayama-kun, calm down. You're too hot-headed."

"Of course I am! You just slapped me!" He shouted in response.

"I'm talking about in the game." She glared at him as he breathed heavily in front of her, still holding his cheek where she slapped him. She inwardly felt relieved that the furrow in his eyebrows had smoothened slightly, and the storminess in his eyes had cleared.

She turned towards the whole team. "Have you all not noticed what Shuutoku's doing?" At this point, she suddenly felt the weight of Akashi's gaze on her. Both he and Shirogane-sensei had arrived by the team as well, but were just standing a little behind her without saying anything.

At the sight of Akashi, Hayama had blinked and immediately looked down, shuffling a little. Mibuchi was gripping his water bottle more tightly than he did before, while Nebuya was having trouble opening another energy bar he had picked up. The other two first-stringers had paled. Riko inwardly frowned as she observed all this.

Outwardly, she decided to continue, "They switched to a 2-3 zone defence because they realised that the man-to-man wouldn't work against you. All of you are individually better than they are, so that defence wouldn't be effective." Here, she paused to turn specifically to glare at Hayama. "With the 2-3 zone defence, they will have three players near the basket defending against your drives, Hayama-kun. With that, they decrease our offensive power," she turned to look at Mibuchi, "making us rely on outside shots instead, which have a lower probability of success."

"What makes this strategy even more effective is that they can predict your drives, Hayama-kun. You're being too predictable." She glared at him again, and he scowled back at her, after glancing at Akashi from the corner of his eye. "And that point guard," she turned to narrow her eyes at Takao at the Shuutoku side, "he is very good at predicting where you will pass once your drives are stopped. He probably has an excellent court vision." _He reminds me of Izuki._

Shaking her head slightly to clear her mind of Seirin, she turned back to Hayama. "He makes this strategy even better by frustrating you, Hayama-kun." As Hayama blinked at her statement, Riko just continued, "He makes you even more hot-headed, and then you're even easier to read. It's a vicious cycle."

"So what should we do, then, Riko-chan?" Nebuya asked, taking a bite from his energy bar which he finally opened.

"I've already told you," Riko said. She turned to look at Mibuchi with a slight smile. "Even though the probability of outside shots are lower than inside ones, Mibuchi-kun is an excellent shooter." Mibuchi smiled at her with cheerful upturned eyes. Riko inwardly felt glad that the worry was now gone from his face. "All you need to do is attack on the outside more. Stop relying on Hayama-kun's shots. Once we start shooting on the outside, the defence will be pressured and they will start making mistakes. And then, the inside attacks can be mobilised."

The players were beginning to look more determined and assured. Riko felt the usual happiness and satisfaction flood her as she saw this. This was why she wanted to coach.

"Okay!" Hayama started to say. A grin was forming on his face again. "So all we gotta do is pass to Reo-nee now, righ-"

"I have one more thing to add," Akashi interjected, his smooth voice still clear amidst the roars of the crowd. Everyone fell silent and looked at Akashi with slightly bowed heads. Riko looked at him from the corner of her eye as he took a step to stand next to her.

"Everything Riko has said is correct. However, I also want you to exploit a weakness of Shuutoku's current strategy." His eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze became more steely as he looked at all of them. "Shut down Shuutoku's point guard. He is the linchpin of their strategy. Once you shut him down, Shuutoku will fall."

He turned to the two Rakuzan first-stringers. "Both of you will be substituted by those two first-stringers." He gestured at two Rakuzan players who were stretching by the benches, and then continued, "We will review your performance after the match." He looked at Mibuchi, Nebuya and Hayama again. "All of your performances."

Riko saw the feeling of pressure come over the three boys once again, merely from the way they shuffled slightly. She frowned at this; once again, she felt baffled by Akashi's motivating methods.

The referee was calling both teams to start the game again, and she could see Midorima from the corner of her eye trying to fit in a last-minute lecture for Takao, but Takao was pretending not to listen as he called out, "What? Did you say something to me, Miyaji-senpai?"

She heard the Rakuzan players around her start to bustle in preparation to get on the court, and so she quickly turned back to them and said, "Wait, there's another thing."

Everyone turned to look at her again.

"You won't win if you're not more motivated to win this," Riko said. "They are giving it more than their all against us, a definitely stronger team, so we should be doing it too." She could feel Akashi's eyes on her, measuring her, weighing her words.

"Jeez, Riko, spirit won't let us win this match," Hayama scoffed at her, rolling his eyes. He jumped up from the bench, an arrogant smirk arising on his face. "Skill will. And we're better, so we'll win." As he walked onto the court to continue the game, the others got up too and followed him.

But Riko was still relieved to see that there was fiery determination hidden deep within his eyes, despite his words. Smiling slightly, she turned to head back to the benches at the viewing area. As she made to walk, she felt Akashi's heavy gaze still on her; his gaze really had a tangible presence.

"Wait, Riko-san."

Blinking, Riko turned to look at Shirogane-sensei, who had called her. He was looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"You should sit with me and the substitute players here on the benches. You may have something else to contribute later."

Riko felt her eyes widen at his statement. Her heart was beating quickly at his words.

"Okay, sensei!"

But even as she walked with Shirogane-sensei towards the benches on the side of the court, she could feel Akashi still looking at her, his scrutinisation still pressing physically against her.

* * *

The second half commenced. Next to Shirogane-sensei, Riko was relieved to see Hayama playing with a confident smirk, as compared to his earlier stormy expression. It really didn't suit him.

As per Riko's words, the Rakuzan point guard had started throwing passes towards Mibuchi. In order to give him the chance to shoot, Hayama had started screening the player nearest to him, exerting huge, intense pressure on the Shuutoku player. The two Rakuzan substitutes also screened Takao, as he tried to run towards Mibuchi to throw him off his form. Mibuchi made the shot, a beautiful, precise arc straight into the hoop. Three points to Rakuzan.

The rest of the second half continued that way. With Mibuchi pressuring Shuutoku with accurate outside shots, Shuutoku was starting to fumble. They had messily switched back into man-to-man defence, in order to allow more mobility around the court and prevent Rakuzan's passes towards Mibuchi, but this only allowed Hayama to get in some inside shots as well. It was happening just as Riko predicted, and she pursed her lips in grim satisfaction.

By the fourth quarter, Rakuzan was already nearly even with Shuutoku's score, and Shuutoku tried to switch into an offensive strategy instead. Riko glanced at Shuutoku's coach. It seemed as though he had given up on defending against Rakuzan; it was clear that the Rakuzan offensive power was just too strong for Shuutoku's defence, and he wanted to turn it into a scoring battle instead.

Midorima had stood up from where he had been sitting on the benches by the side of the court, and he was clutching his lipstick tightly, a frown marring his face. Despite how much he would hope, Riko knew that it would be Rakuzan's win now.

When the match ended, Rakuzan had won, 85 to 72. While Shuutoku's offensive strategy was good, with Takao sending passes even Riko couldn't comprehend – _he could be even better than Izuki _– their offensive power just couldn't match Rakuzan's without Midorima there to help them. The Shuutoku shooting guard made a few inaccurate shots, and Nebuya was able to beat Otsubo on the rebounds. The outcome had been inevitable. She stood up to look at the teams as they bowed to each other.

While the Shuutoku players were shaking their heads when they turned back towards the benches, and Takao was stuffing his fingers into his ears as Midorima approached him with a twitching eyebrow, the Rakuzan players just looked calm. No jubilance or happiness could be detected. Even Mibuchi and Hayama, who were normally so expressive, didn't change their expressions one bit.

She walked up to them with a smile. "Good job, guys! That was really some excellent offensive plays."

Hayama just shrugged at her. "Meh, it was kinda expected. We were pressured a little bit, but we were always gonna win anyway. We're just better." Riko looked at him, feeling her eyebrow twitch a little. What happened to all that anger just a few minutes ago?

But she could see a little relief in his eyes when Akashi approached the team, to stand next to her. "We will have a performance review in the next practice session. For now, just do your stretches properly."

He was about to say more, when they were called out by someone. "Akashi."

Everyone turned to see Midorima striding towards them, Otsubo and Takao slightly behind him. Otsubo took a step forward, and held out a hand. "Good game earlier."

Akashi looked at his hand, his eyes suddenly changing from its steeliness to smooth politeness. "Yes." He lightly grasped Otsubo's hand. "Thank you for coming all the way here for the match."

Otsubo nodded, and then said, "I'm going to thank your coach as well. Excuse me." And he walked off towards Shirogane-sensei, who was talking to Shuutoku's coach. Riko could slightly overhear him saying, "Well, Ma-boy, I was expecting something better..." and Shuutoku's coach replying, "We won't be so easy to beat in an actual competition, Eiji..."

Akashi's eyes had switched from politeness into their usual hardness when he looked at Midorima. "Shintarou," he said. "That was disappointing."

Riko saw Takao flinch next to Midorima, while Midorima himself pushed up his spectacles with taped fingers, hiding his eyes. "Akashi." Then, he revealed his eyes, which were filled with determination and resolve. "We will win in an actual match. That's a guarantee."

Akashi hummed quietly in response. Then, he turned sideways to look at Midorima at the corner of his eye. "I hope you will pose a better challenge next time." He continued turning to look at the Rakuzan players and said, "I will speak with you after Shuutoku leaves." And then he walked towards Otsubo and the coaches.

Takao released a sigh in front of Riko. "Maan, what's with your former captain, Shin-chan? He's really..." and then he got stuck as he tried to think of a word and gestured uselessly.

"You!" Hayama glared at Takao while pointing at him. "You really pissed me off earlier!"

"Huuh...?" Takao said with a cheeky grin. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

While Mibuchi tried to tell Hayama to be more polite as he continued spluttering indignantly at a grinning Takao, Riko turned to Midorima and said, "Midorima-kun, if it is okay with you, I would like to take a look at your shooting technique?" Midorima blinked as he looked at her. "I'm a Rakuzan assistant coach, but I was really looking forward to seeing you shoot today. So if you could please do me this favour?" she added with a smile.

Midorima sniffed, and then pushed up his spectacles. "Certainly, although you can probably see it from several videos of my previous matches." He frowned slightly. "And my fingers are still taped."

But sighing, he just picked up a basketball off the ground, and threw a basket from where he was standing right there.

The ball flew into the hoop in an immaculate, faultless arc, and then bounced on the gym floor with a solid thud.

* * *

After the practice match with Shuutoku, the Rakuzan basketball club settled back into the humdrum of their usual practice schedules. Riko, however, suddenly experienced change. Shirogane-sensei had called her over the day after the practice match during a Rakuzan practice session, and told her to help the first string with their stamina drills, instead of the third string.

Although she was surprised and gratified at this acknowledgement, she didn't want to leave the third string players. And so, despite Hayama's annoying whines and vice-like grip on her wrist as she tried to leave the first string to go to the third string gym halfway through one of the practice sessions, she shook him off to go to the third string gym. And this was when even Nebuya was genially telling her to just stay to shut Hayama up.

But even as she went into a routine lull of splitting her time between the first and third strings, she couldn't shake Mayuzumi from her mind. She felt an intense need to find him and talk to him.

So she spent her lunch breaks scouring the third year corridors trying to look for him, Hayama tagging along behind her like a puppy. But it was so difficult to find him, he was like a damn unicorn. And it was difficult to concentrate with Hayama's constant questions behind her ("Who're you looking for, Riko? You're looking for a senpai, right? A guy senpai? Is he your boyfriend? Huh, Riko? Riko, listen to me!").

It was more than a week after the practice match with Shuutoku and she was ready to give up on looking for him. And then, she _finally_ found him.

* * *

He was sitting on the Rakuzan roof reading a light novel.

Riko had shaken Hayama off only because he had suddenly told her to "just do whatever you want, I gotta go do something" as he rushed out of the classroom during lunch break. Riko had eagerly taken the opportunity to look around the third year corridors once more.

But when she failed again to find him, she had wanted to scream in frustration. Remembering Seirin, and Hyuuga's declaration on the roof, she decided that she wanted to emulate him and went to the roof.

And then she saw him. Just sitting there reading. It kind of irked her.

"Mayuzumi-senpai!" She spat a little in her surprise.

He nonchalantly looked up from his book and then just gave her a blank look. "Oh. It's you. Riko-san. Assistant coach."

He just nodded at her, and turned back to his book.

Riko rushed forward quickly, and sat down next to him. At her actions, he looked up from his book again.

"Mayuzumi-senpai, I've been looking for you all this while!" She made no effort to hide her frustration. "I wanted to ask you something!" He frowned slightly at her desperation, but she ignored it. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Why did you quit the club?"

At her question, his frown became more pronounced, but then a second later, it disappeared. He turned back to his book, and she could see he was trying to concentrate on it. But she plunged on, saying beseechingly, "I've been looking for you during every practice session. We were supposed to work hard together, remember?"

He sighed at her question, and then looked up from his book at her again. "Riko-san, my decision to quit has nothing to do with you. It's my own choice." He frowned slightly again. "Why do you care so much, anyway? We only met during that one time."

Riko blinked. Frowning, she tried to put into words why she was so concerned about him. Flashes of memories and thoughts ran through her mind. Feelings of happiness when Mitobe mastered a defensive position. Of satisfaction when Koganei finally managed to dribble the ball comfortably. And pride when Tsuchida showed talent in his rebounds. It was too complicated to explain. She just needed him to play basketball again.

"I just think you're...wasting your potential," she struggled to reply him.

He sighed again, closing his eyes. "What potential are you talking about? We're in _Rakuzan_. Potential is practically overflowing from every corner in this place."

"But Mayuzumi-senpai, if you give up now, you can't even play basketball anymore."

He didn't say or do anything in response. He just turned back to his book, and flipped a page.

"Look, I'll show you, your effort isn't useless-"

Before Riko could continue what she was saying so emphatically, the door to the roof suddenly burst open and Hayama came in, followed by Mibuchi and Nebuya.

And then Akashi strolled in.

As Riko gaped at the intruders, Hayama shouted over her surprise, "Jeez, Riko, I finally found you! And it's only thanks to Eikichi's freaky ears over here." He jabbed a thumb at a grinning Nebuya, who was eating ramen of all things, holding the bowl up while standing next to Hayama. "He overheard your shrill voice as we were walking by the stairs," Hayama continued.

"We want to ask you something!" Mibuchi gushed. "We're going to celebrate Ei-chan's birthday, which was just last week. And then Kotarou-chan had another wonderful idea." He delightedly elbowed Hayama, who smirked at Riko.

"Let's celebrate your promotion as assistant coach to the first string as well," he said.

"Isn't that just the best idea?" Mibuchi said. "Let's all go to dinner at a restaurant in the city centre later this evening. We'll take the bus there and everything."

They were all looking at her with wide grins. Riko glanced at Akashi, who still looked inscrutable. But he was...looking at Mayuzumi. There was an unreadable look in his eyes. Was he...curious? Excited? Riko couldn't tell.

"Um...I don't know if I have to be celebrated, but we can celebrate Nebuya-kun's birthday for sure..." Riko said uncertainly; she was distracted as she looked at Akashi.

Hayama sighed exaggeratedly. "Oh, come on, Riko, it'll be awesome! We should celebrate your achievement too, you know how I've been so skeptical-"

"Riko, who is he?"

Akashi cut across Hayama to address Riko, but he was still looking at Mayuzumi.

Mayuzumi, who had been frowning at all the commotion all that while, suddenly smoothened his expression. He pulled up the book, and turned to look at it, but he answered Akashi, "I'm your senpai. You're really too informal with me. You should be more polite."

"He's Mayuzumi Chihiro," Riko interjected. "I trained him for a short while he was in the third string. But he recently quit."

Mayuzumi turned to Riko and was about to say something to her, when Hayama interrupted, "Whoah, man, I didn't even realise you were there! Sorry!" Then he looked between him and Riko sitting next to each other. "Wait, why are you sitting together? Are you the guy? Are you the guy?"

As Riko kneaded her eyebrows, Mibuchi said with a smile, "Mayuzumi-senpai, you should join us as well. It'll be a really fun dinner to celebrate Riko-chan's achievement." Nebuya nodded next to Mibuchi, and grinned at him although his mouth was full of ramen.

Mayuzumi began to say, "I don't think I should join-"

"Yes, do come along."

Akashi's statement left no room for doubt or refusal. Mayuzumi had frowned again, and he opened his mouth to protest again, but then Akashi continued, "I want to talk with you for a bit."

His gaze was penetrating; once again, Riko felt a pressure from it, she didn't think Mayuzumi would be able to refuse. Glancing next to her, she saw that he was sighing, and then he shut his book. He stood up, and started walking towards the stairs leading down from the roof.

"Fine. I'll come."

After smiling happily, Mibuchi called after him as he placed his hand on the railing of the stairs, "We're meeting at the main bus stop in the city centre at eight before heading to the restaurant together!" Mayuzumi paused, his back still facing them. "We all have practice until late in the evening, so just meet us there, from wherever you live in Kyoto," Mibuchi added.

Mayuzumi just gave a single nod. And then he continued walking downstairs.

While Mibuchi was talking with Hayama and Nebuya about their evening plans, Riko didn't hear their discussion because she was looking at Akashi with slightly narrowed eyes. He was still staring after Mayuzumi, and she still couldn't read the look in his eyes.

All she knew was that it made her feel slightly uneasy.


End file.
